Wayne Rooney of Manchester United will have his first ever runner in the opening race at Chester on Wednesday. Photograph: Julian Herbert/Getty Images

Wayne Rooney may have to win a race against time if he is to be present for his debut as a racehorse owner on Wednesday. Pippy, a two-year-old colt, is expected to represent him in the first race at Chester, mere minutes after the footballer has been released from his duties with Manchester United some 35 miles away.

After a day off yesterday all the team's players are expected to show up for training on Wednesday and, according to one of the club's PR officers, are unlikely to be set free before 1pm. Pippy's race, the Lily Agnes Stakes, is due off at 1.35pm, a 45-minute drive down the M56 from United's training ground.

Of course, Rooney's manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is an owner himself and an established fan of the sport. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that he may allow Rooney a head start on his team-mates, in view of the occasion.

That kind of indulgence would be surprising to some, however, as United prepare for their final game of the season, at Sunderland on Sunday, with the Premier League title still winnable if Manchester City should drop points against QPR. That appears to explain why Sir Alex has no plans, apparently, to take his players for an end-of-term outing to Chester races this week, as he has sometimes done in the past.

Richard Thomas, the racecourse's chief executive, confirmed that Rooney was expected at Chester. Regardless of the travel difficulties involved in the England international arriving in time for the Lily Agnes, Thomas said: "I can't see him missing it."

Presuming that the player is successful in his cross-country dash, Pippy cannot be relied upon to pay for any speeding fines he may accumulate en route. The horse's trainer, Tom Dascombe, poured cold water on any hopes of him scoring at the first attempt.

"Pippy is a perfectly nice two-year-old," Dascombe said but added: "He's being thrown in at the deep end because we wanted to run at Chester. It's going to be incredibly difficult for him, taking on six horses that have already run and won.

"He will win but not necessarily tomorrow. He should run well, as long as he gets the breaks. He's got the ability."

Dascombe will have two other runners in the race but this does not signify an attempt on his part at team tactics. "We don't just train for Mr Rooney," he said. "We have other owners who are equally keen to have runners at Chester. I hate running two horses in the same race but it's our local racecourse and our owners like to have runners there."

Rooney is likely to be back at the racecourse on Thursday for his second runner, Tomway, at the relatively civilised hour of 3.40pm, but Dascombe offers no more hope for that one. "He's drawn out with the washing [in stall 11 of 13] and that's probably put an end to his chance. I know everyone's hoping that Mr Rooney's going to have a winner straight away but I'm afraid it's going to be tricky."

So this week may represent an introduction to the harsher realities of ownership for Rooney, who with luck has been prepared for the worst by his team-mate Michael Owen, also Dascombe's landlord and a prolific owner himself. His Brown Panther runs in Friday's Ormonde Stakes, with the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as possible targets later in the year. Nothing so exotic is being lined up yet for Rooney's third horse, Switcharooney, who is two months from making his debut, according to Dascombe.

While Chester's turf is soft and drying out, Lingfield's is waterlogged in places, so the races due to be staged on grass at the weekend have been switched on to the all-weather. That includes the Oaks and Derby trials to be staged on Saturday, for which entries have been reopened until noon on Wednesday.